Peace of Mind Organizing

Avoiding overpacking

10 June 2010

I’m leaving for a weekend trip to attend a family wedding. As I think about packing, I thought I’d share my method for ensuring I don’t overpack.

I’ve been doing this for years — decades, really. I think I invented this system. And I’m happy to share it.

Here’s what I do:

• I think about the clothes I’d like to take on the trip and make a list. It usually includes the clothes I’m particularly fond of wearing these days, or ones I feel really good in.

• I number each item in the list

I did this last night for my trip. And I took a picture. (The backs of envelopes are good for this.)

• I make a list of the days I’ll be there. Since there’s usually a change of clothes, I’ll have columns for AM and PM. (If there were going to more than one change of clothes in a day, I’d increase the number of columns.)

• I put together outfits for each day, using the numbers next to each item on the packing list.

• I go through the numbers (looking for each number, in order) and make sure that each number is represented. If there’s no number 5, for instance, on the outfit list, I scratch item number five off my packing list.

Here’s my outfit list for this trip:

There was no item number five!

A nice bonus is that if I want, I can bring along the lists and then I don’t have to think about what I’m going to wear each day.

I don’t list undergarments (unless there’s something special) or jewelry. I certainly could list jewelry, but I don’t have that much and I just sort of eyeball it.

I hope you find it helpful. I’ve made my packing list but haven’t packed for my trip yet — we’re leaving after I get home from a client this afternoon. It’s so nice to have the list; packing will be a snap!

Tagged with: packing, travel

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